


We're breaking promises we thought we could keep

by xsticknoodlesx



Series: Eagerly I Wished The 'Morrow (Post-Endgame Everyone Lives AU) [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Babysitting, Creepy Strangers, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Loki (Marvel) is Good With Kids, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Pepper Potts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-23 08:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20337121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsticknoodlesx/pseuds/xsticknoodlesx
Summary: “You will be fine with watching Morgan?“ Pepper asked yet again, fiddling with something in her purse. “I wrote down mine and Tony’s number if anything happens. You know how a telephone works, right?”“Pep, calm down.” Tony shook his head affectionately. “We’re only gone for the night. I mean I trust him, so why shouldn’t you?”---Or: Loki babysits Morgan but Pepper is worried. So Morgan wants to prove to her and Tony that Loki is a good babysitter. But her idea of how to do so is not that great. Peter and Loki end up having to search her.*Can be read as a stand-alone*





	1. We disappoint and let down

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, me again. I hope you enjoy this. I have so many ideas for so many things so sorry for the little spam ^^
> 
> Title from "Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy" by The Dø.

“You will be fine with watching Morgan?“ Pepper asked yet again, fiddling with something in her purse. “I wrote down mine and Tony’s number if anything happens. You know how a telephone works, right?”

“Pep, calm down.” Tony shook his head affectionately. “We’re only gone for the night. I mean I trust him, so why shouldn’t you?”

“For obvious reasons.” Pepper grumbled. “And remember to make her brush her teeth and not too many sweets, especially not before bed and- Oh, I should just stay at home with her.”

“Pepper, it’s a charity gala held by Stark Industries. You are the CEO and I’m Tony Stark, so we should really both go. Loki can be trusted, I think. And Morgan likes him.”

“I do.” Morgan smiled happily before grabbing Loki’s arm, holding it.

“I will take good care of her. It is merely one night; what could happen?”

“Do you want a list?” Pepper joked. “Alright, but promise me to call me if anything even remotely bad happens.”

“Promise.” Loki mockingly put a hand to his chest, covering where his heart would be.

“I find it hard to believe you somehow but we need to leave. Happy is waiting outside.” Pepper sighed.

That was when Happy poked his head into the front door. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, we’ll be there in a few seconds.” Tony smiled. “Seriously, Pep, you should be less worried about Loki not taking care of Morgan and more worried about Morgan being a little rascal and causing trouble.”

Morgan narrowed her eyes jokingly and grinned. “I won’t, Daddy.”

“Good. Now, where are you not supposed to go?”

“Your workshop.” Morgan recited dutifully.

Pepper then nodded, pressing a kiss to Morgan’s head before leaving for the car. Tony ruffled Morgan’s hair and gave Loki one last look that said ‘You better take good care of her’ before following Pepper. Happy reached out to close the door before turning to Loki one last time.

“Listen, keep her safe and don’t do anything stupid or you will have to answer to me. That little girl is like a niece to me.” Happy warned before smiling at Morgan. “Bye, sweetie.”

“Bye, Happy.” Morgan smiled and then turned to Loki. “Can we play?”

“Well, what is it that you want to play?” Loki asked gently. 

“Can we play knights and dragons?”

“Of course, we can.”

The two of them played for about an hour, Morgan dragging Loki behind her, making him act like a dragon while she pretended to fight him. Loki dutifully let himself be defeated, acted as if he had been slain and let himself sink to the floor. Morgan was absolutely thrilled at how much Loki played along and the god was glad to be able to entertain the girl. They only stopped once they heard the doorbell ring.

Loki stood up and looked at Morgan. “Wait on the sofa, yes?”

Morgan nodded and skipped off while Loki went for the door. When he opened it, Peter was there, looking a little confused at seeing the god. Loki was just as confused to see Peter, in his Spiderman suit, standing by the door.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m watching Morgan while Tony and his wife are on a gala.” Loki explained.

“Not to be rude but why would they ask you?” Peter mused. “Not that you aren’t cool and all but- I mean after- just- I don’t know what I was trying to say anymore.”

“Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor and Steve are at the gala with them because apparently, they wanted the original Avengers there. The other possible people to ask are otherwise busy.” Loki explained nonchalantly. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just going on a little patrol to see that everything was alright but I then decided to see how Morgan is doing because this morning she seemed a bit sad. So I decided to swing by.” He then laughed. “Get it? Because of the webs.”

“Yes, I get that. Why was she sad?” Loki raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to come inside?”

Peter nodded and followed Loki to the living room where he greeted Morgan with a big huh. “Hey, how are you?”

“Better.” She smiled. “Mommy called Emma’s Mom and they talked. Emma’s Mom said Emma is going to be nicer to me now.”

“Did someone pick on you?” Loki sat down next to the two. “Who?”

“Emma from my kindergarten group. She is really mean to me and she never lets me play with her and her friends.” Morgan mumbled.

Loki felt his chest clench a little. He knew all too well how it felt to be sent away by others when all you wanted to do was play with them; he spent his whole childhood feeling lonely and not worthy of being with Thor and his friends. Apparently, Pepper was already taking care of Morgan’s problems but Loki wanted to do something, as well. He didn’t want her to feel the way he felt as a child.

“I know that must make you sad.” Loki said and Morgan looked up at him. “But if Emma and her friends don’t want to play with you, it’s their loss. I’m sure a lot of your other classmates would love to play with you. Maybe you should try and play with them instead of wasting your time with mean girls like Emma.”

“I like Josh.” Morgan smiled. “He always colours with me. Do you think I should play with him?”

“Yes. I think if he’s nice to you he deserves you much more than Emma and her friends. Eventually, you’ll be happier with a friend like him.”

“Did you have a friend like Josh when you were little?” Morgan asked innocently.

“Not that I can remember.” Loki then smiled at her. “Now, do you want to spend some time with Peter while I try and make dinner for you?”

“Shouldn’t we just order something?” Peter suggested. “Not that I don’t think you can cook- I mean I’m not sure- but maybe ordering something is a safe idea.”

“What would you like, Morgan?”

Morgan smiled brightly. “Can we order pizza? I love pizza!”

“Then pizza it is. How do I order it?” Loki asked Peter.

“Call them and tell them what you want. I’ll get the menu. It’s in the kitchen.” Peter smiled and went off.

When he arrived in the kitchen, his phone rang. He looked down at it and saw that it was Tony calling him. Quickly, he picked up. Tony was video-calling him.

“Hey, are you two having fun?” Peter asked.

“We’re just calling to check in on you three.”

“How do you know I’m at your house?” Peter mused. “I mean you can see the kitchen but you called me to check so you must have known.”

“I know where you are, Pete.” Tony assured. “Now how are you three? Is Loki doing a good job?”

“As far as I can tell, he is.” Peter smiled and then turned the phone.

Tony looked past him into the living room where Loki was chasing an excitedly giggling Morgan around, pretending to be a monster.

“I see. Pep was worried.”

Pepper appeared in the background. “She’s my little baby girl and the only adult watching her is Loki. Nothing against him but he did invade New York and I’m a little wary about him watching Morgan.”

“He’s doing good.” Peter assured them once again. “Don’t worry.”

Pepper seemed agitated by Peter not taking her seriously. “You leave your child alone with someone that killed dozens of people and see how relaxed you can be.”

Peter went on to tell Pepper exactly what the three of them were planning on doing with the rest of the evening and that Morgan was fine. Little did he know that Loki had listened in on them talking about him after he went to check on what was taking Peter so long.

He quietly returned to the living room and Morgan eyed him sadly. “Loki, why are you sad?” She whispered, pulling at his hand. “Do you not want to play dragons anymore?”

“I’m not sad, silly.” Loki said softly, trying to mask his feelings.

“You’re lying!” Morgan exclaimed. “My daddy was often sad before he won against Thanos. I know that you’re sad. Why are you sad? Do you want to cuddle Shadow? I always cuddle Shadow when I’m sad.”

Loki felt tears rise in his eyes as he heard how worried Morgan was about him. He quickly crouched down so he was on eye level.

“You do not need to worry about me, yes? I’m a little sad that your parents don’t trust me to watch you and don’t really like the idea of me watching you. But that is nothing you need to worry your little head about.” He explained softly.

“I like it when you come over to play!” Morgan said quickly, embracing Loki and practically hanging from his neck. “Like when you came over on the weekend and you played hide and seek with me!”

Loki got up again, pulling Morgan into his arms. It was nice to know that the girl liked him and his presence. “If you like my presence then that is all that matters to me.”

“I don’t want Daddy to not like you.” Morgan whispered. “And Mommy, too.”

“You cannot change how other people feel about you.” Loki whispered, slowly moving back into the direction of the kitchen when he noticed that Peter had stopped talking. “Let’s see what Peter is doing.”

“Can I braid your hair later?” Morgan asked sweetly.

Loki gave an exasperated sigh but nodded. “Of course.”

“Yay!” Morgan went back to hugging his neck as she was carried to the kitchen.

Peter nearly ran into them when he came out. He shoved the menu into Morgans’ hands and she held it out to Loki.

“I can’t read that, yet.” She confessed.

“Then I shall read it to you.”

After everyone had placed an order, Peter called up the pizza place and ordered. While they waited, Loki let Morgan braid his hair a couple of times while Peter told him about something that happened in school.

Eventually, the doorbell rang and Loki got up. “Morgan, you should go and wash your hands.”

“I don’t want to.” Morgan whined. “I’ll wash them after we eat.”

“Now that would not be of no use.” Loki raised an eyebrow. “Peter, take her to wash her hands, please. You can wash yours, as well.”

“Yes.” Peter chuckled and took Morgan’s hand. “Come on, let’s just listen to him.”

Loki nodded and then went to walk to the door. He quickly paid the delivery man and then took the pizzas inside, putting them on the dinner table. Originally he wanted to wait for the two but when they didn’t come back after ten minutes, he got up and walked to the bathroom. Peter was standing outside, looking panicked.

“Mr Loki, Morgan told me she wanted to use the toilet and I waited outside. Now she’s gone.” He had opened the door and was pointing to the open window inside.

Loki felt his stomach drop. He was supposed to watch her and now she was gone. Tony and Pepper had been right to not trust him; again he was doing everything wrong even though he tried to do something good for once.

“We need to find her.” Loki said quickly. “She cannot have gone far.”

“Yes, should we split up or something?”

“No, we should stay together. Where do you think she might have gone?”

“I have no clue.” Peter mumbled. “Maybe to Tony’s workshop or the garage or maybe to the street.”

Loki nodded and then quickly walked off and outside the front door. He had to find Morgan; she was just a little girl and he didn’t know what dangers lurked in these forests. Visions of her being attacked by wild animals began to plague his head and he quickly tried to shake them off. Peter was behind him, calling out Morgan’s name, pausing ever so often so she would have a chance to answer.

“Maybe we should call Tony.” Peter suggested.

“No.” Loki shook his head. “We will find her ourselves.”


	2. And though we're trying our best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Loki embark on their search for Morgan but when they find her a suspicious car isn't far behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title still from "Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy" by The Dø. It's a great song.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. It got a little long ^^

“Mr Loki, what if we don’t find her?“ Peter looked at Loki with panicked eyes.

“We will.” Loki waved him off. “We have to. Now keep looking.”

“Morgan!” Peter called out. “This isn’t funny!”

“You do not honestly believe she is doing this to be funny, do you?” Loki hissed. “Peter, simply yell her name and ask her to come.”

Peter sighed. “This isn’t my fault.”

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A fight would not help; he had to concentrate on finding Morgan. Pepper had been right not to trust him. Originally, he had been angered by her words -she had really told Peter that she was wary of him- but now he understood her. He could not be trusted.

“Morgan!” He called out again. 

“Mr Loki, do you think something might have happened to her? What if a wild animal got to her- maybe a mountain lion. Do those live here?”

“I don’t know, Peter.” Loki sighed in exasperation. “Morgan, would you please come back to the house?”

Peter looked around. “Mr Loki?”

“Not now, Peter.” Loki hissed at him. “Morgan, your food is getting cold!”

“Mr Loki, I-”

“Peter, no.” Loki shook his head. “Morgan, please!”

“Mr Loki!” Peter exclaimed loudly.

Loki turned to him. “By the Norns, would you please stop calling me Mr Loki?”

“Loki.” Peter corrected. “Where are you?”

Loki looked up, turning around, whipping his head from side to side. They were lost. Not only was Morgan lost, now he and Peter were, too.

“Karen.” Peter whispered.

“Karen?” The god raised an eyebrow. “Who is Karen?”

“I am Karen.” A voice came from somewhere. Loki located it to have been coming from Peter’s suit. “How may I help you, Peter?”

“Can you tell us where we are? And how to get back to the house?” Peter whispered.

“Of course, Peter.” Karen said in a gentle voice. “You need to head to your right and walk a while in that direction. Eventually, you will come to a road and from that, you will have to head to your left. Then you should reach the house.”

Loki nodded along. “Then I will bring you back to the house and continue looking for Morgan.”

“I want to help!”

“No.” Loki shook his head. “Come, Peter.”

Peter grumbled something Loki didn't understand but he knew it wasn't something nice. The two of them walked for a while until they made it to the road. Luckily it was illuminated. The light of the moon had been nearly useless in navigating the woods. They walked down the road until they head a quiet gasp from their left.

“Is that-” Peter began but Loki interrupted him.

“Is that you, Morgan?”

“Yes.” She sniffled sadly. The two men saw her crawling out from behind a tree. “Are you angry at me?”

Loki bit his tongue. He was angry but more so was he simply glad that she was safe. He quickly strode over to her and helped her onto the street. Her pyjamas were dirty and her hair unkempt. She was also not wearing shoes.

“What were you thinking?” Loki hissed quietly, quickly hoisting her up onto his hip where he held her. “Let us get you inside.”

“No.” Morgan whined, holding onto Loki. “Not home.”

“Why not?” Peter asked in confusion. “What were you even trying to do?”

“I wanted to go see Mom and Dad.” She whispered. “And I wanted to tell them that Loki is very nice and I like him.”

Loki’s face contorted at that. He quickly shook his head. “Now that was not the smartest idea, don’t you think? Do you even know the way?”

“No.” Morgan whispered, sniffling again. “Can’t we go see my parents?”

“You’ll see them again later.” Peter smiled. “They won’t be gone forever. Come on. Your pizza is waiting.”

Morgan sniffled and looked up at Loki. “Will you read me a story?”

“Yes, I will if you agree to come home with us.” 

“Alright.” Morgan sighed and leaned back against Loki. “I’m tired.”

“I will carry you all the way home.”

That was easier said than done because just half an hour later, Loki and Peter realized that they might actually be farther from the house than they originally thought.

“I hate the woods.” Peter grumbled and then sighed. “I think I see a sign ahead. It may have a map on it. People go hiking around here. We’ll see how far it is and what’s the shortest way.”

“Good.” Loki sighed. “Morgan, are you still fine?” 

“I want my Mom and Dad.” The girl whimpered sadly. “And I’m cold.”

“Cold?” The god thought for a second before putting Morgan down. He then removed his coat and put it over her shoulders before picking her up again. “Better?”

Morgan nodded. “But won’t you be cold?” 

“I’m quite resilient against the cold.”

Peter perked up. “Oh, I know! It’s because you are a Frost-” He stopped when he saw Loki’s annoyed face. “Frost- Fro- F- The sign!” He exclaimed. “Let’s look what it says.”

“Yes.” Loki nodded.

“A frost?” Morgan looked at Loki. “How can you be the frost? That’s just cold water.”

“I will explain it to you another time.” Loki dismissed her. “Try to wrap the coat tightly around yourself, yes?”

“Yes.” She whispered.

The three of them headed to the map and Peter got onto his tiptoes to read it. Then he turned to Loki and Morgan.

“I think if we just follow the road and then go left at the next parting of the road we need to go left.”

“Good, then let us go.” Loki nodded and started walking along the road. “Hurry up, Peter. It’s already past Morgan’s bedtime.”

Peter nodded and quickly hurried after Loki. “There is a car coming from behind us. Maybe they can take us with them- or maybe they shouldn’t. May says it’s dangerous to hitchhike but-”

“It’s the red car!” 

Morgan shrieked right into Loki’s ear and the god cringed at that before he realised what he had said. “You know this car?”

“The man and woman in there said they would drive me home but Mom and Dad said not to go into strangers’ cars. I ran away and hid.”

“That’s why you were hiding.” Peter looked back. “Can’t you hide us with magic or something?” 

Loki slowly shook his head. “They already saw us. Just keep walking.”

Peter nodded and did so as Loki held Morgan just a little tighter. She was holding onto his neck so tightly that she was almost choking him. It did bring back unpleasant memories but Loki ignored the tightness in his chest at the feeling of something tightly wrapped around his neck.

“Hey!” The car was next to them and the woman in the passenger seat was looking at them. “Can we take you somewhere?”

“No need to. Thank you.” Loki sneered, walking a little faster.

“Come on. The girl must be cold.” She insisted.

“She is fine.” The god hissed. “Keep driving and leave us alone.”

“Really? It’s pretty late and you’re out in the middle of a forest.” 

Loki stopped walking and turned to her. “Should you not have the wish for me to make you suffer in the worst ways you can imagine then I suggest you drive off and leave us alone.”

“Oh, you will make us suffer?” The woman began laughing and the man stopped the car.

Morgan cuddled closer to Loki and the god handed her to Peter before walking up to the car. He then leaned forward down to the window.

“Imagine if you will the feeling of your whole body crumbling to pieces, blood pouring out of every crevice, the air knocked out of your lungs, every bone in your body breaking and contorting while you slowly succumb to your death.” He smirked menacingly at her. “Now imagine that I can make you feel that way without actually harming you. You will writhe in pain but you cannot die. You will beg me for death but I am not merciful. Would you like that?”

The woman stared at him in horror and the man leaned forward. “Who do you think you are, a damn wizard?”

Loki straightened up again and lifted a hand. His fingers slowly became engulfed in green light and little orbs floated around the people in the car. He slowly turned his head to Peter. “Cover her eyes.”

The boy did so as he himself kept staring at Loki. The orbs circled the throats of the man and woman. Then Loki clenched his hand into a fist and the two began to gas for air, writhing in their seats as the god himself just stood by, completely relaxed as if it wasn’t a toil at all.

“We’ll leave!” The man gasped out. “Please!”

“You better leave otherwise I might not be merciful enough to let you go the next time I see you.” Loki dropped his hand and the couple took several deep breaths before they started the car and began to drive off.

“What did you do?” Peter whispered.

“Used my abilities to protect you and Morgan. Now come along.” He said and walked over to Peter. “I can carry her.”

Peter didn’t object and began to walk ahead of them to lead the way. Loki held Morgan tightly in his arms as the girl looked up at him from where her head was located on his chest.

“Did you hurt them?”

“Only a little.” Loki whispered. 

“Dad said it’s bad to hurt others.” Morgan whispered. “But the man and woman wanted to hurt us, too.”

“If someone wants to harm you, you can hurt them to protect yourself but only if they really want to do something bad to you.” Loki explained, hoping it was what Tony had meant when he taught Morgan the rules of what and what not to do. “If someone is mean to you, you try to solve it with words. But if someone tries to grab you and take you away you can kick and hit them until they let you go.”

“Okay.” She mumbled sleepily. “Loki?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for protecting me.”

\---

Eventually, they reached the cabin and once inside Loki made Morgan and Peter eat at least a little bit. Peter decided to sleep on the couch since it was already late and Loki got Morgan into bed.

“Loki?” She whispered, snuggled up under her covers.

“Yes?” He turned around in the doorway.

“Will you stay until I fall asleep?”

Loki slowly made his way across the room and sat down in the armchair by the window. Morgan thanked him and snuggled down and closed her eyes. Loki leaned back in the armchair, crossing his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes, as well. Peter was safe downstairs, Morgan was safe and sound in her bed and he was comfortable in the armchair. He could allow himself to close his eyes for a few minutes.

\---

“Loki?” 

“He’s asleep, Tony.”

“Reindeer Games, wake up.”

Loki groaned as he scooted up in the armchair, blinking a few times. He must have fallen asleep because it was already the next morning.

“I apologize. Morgan asked me to stay and I must have fallen asleep.”

“That’s fine.” Pepper smiled. “Thank you for watching her. It seems that everything went well and you had fun. Peter left earlier because he had promised May to help her clean out the kitchen today. He said you did a great job watching Morgan.”

“Yes, everything went quite well.” He lied. He had always been good at lying. “We ordered a pizza and watched a movie together.”

Tony raised an eyebrow in the background before smiling. “Wanna have breakfast with us? You said you didn’t want money but have pancakes at least.”

“I’d like that.”

Once everyone was downstairs, Morgan ran over to Loki and hugged him. The god was surprised but he put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair gently.

“Uncle Loki.” Tony snorted and went into the kitchen to get plates.

“Thank you for watching me and playing with me.” Morgan smiled happily.

“No need to thank me.” Loki looked up at Pepper and Tony. “Did you have fun?”

“Yes.” Pepper smiled. “And I have to say I misjudged you. Morgan seems to like you and you took good care of her. I’m sorry if I was rude yesterday; Rhodey cancelled on us as a babysitter and I was stressed out. And with your past, I was worried.”

“I get that.” Loki sighed softly. “I’m glad you think differently now.”

“Now, let’s eat.” Pepper smiled.

Apparently neither Pepper nor Tony knew about the things that transpired the previous night. Or at least it was what Loki thought until it was time to leave. After saying goodbye and Pepper going to do the dishes, Tony and Morgan saw Loki to the door.

“So you were in the house the whole time?”

“Yes.” Loki nodded. “Morgan didn’t feel like playing outside, I suppose.”

Tony smirked and raised an eyebrow. “And at no point did you leave the house?”

“No.” 

“Then how come I have footage of Morgan running away and you and Peter going after her to try and find her? And why do I have footage of you three coming back, Morgan tightly wrapped in your coat two hours later?”

Morgan looked at her feet. “I ran outside. It was my fault. Loki said you and Mommy didn’t like him being with me. I thought that if I run away and Loki finds me and saves me that you would trust him and like him.”

Loki looked down at the girl. “Morgan, you should not have done that. It shouldn’t be any of your concern whether or not other people like me. Let that be my worry.”

“Oh, darling.” Tony crouched down. “That was a bad idea and you should never do that again but it was sweet of you. Mom and Dad like Loki. Mommy was just a little woried because Loki did some not so nice things in the past but that’s all forgotten, yes? He fought Thanos and is good now. And Daddy likes him; he’s funny. I like how he went after you immediately.”

“He even scared off two bad people that really wanted us inside their car.” Morgan smiled. “He’s really brave.”

Tony’s mouth fell open. “Thank you, Loki. That was really freaking brave of you. Did you by any chance get the license plate?”

“No. But perhaps Peter knows it. It was a red car.”

“I see.” Tony nodded. “Well, I’ll see if I can find it. Thank you for protecting my little girl. Really, thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I wouldn’t let anything harm her.” Loki gave a small smile.

Tony chuckled. “You’re a softie, Bambie.”

“Oh, be quiet, Anthony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this so far.  
Leave a Kudos or Comment if you want to.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this so far.  
Leave a Kudos or Comment if you want to.  
See you soon for Chapter 2 ^^


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